Thanks for the post. I enjoy reviewing newbie changesets, I find that the challenge for me is staying succinct, while remaining friendly and useful. Once the comment gets a bit longer, I find it difficult to structure due to the lack of formatting options in comments.

Your bulletpoint list of considerations is great.

I would add that you need to know when to hold back: If a changeset has multiple issues, try to focus on one major issue, rather than itemizing every single problem. (And of course letting them know what was done well)

I run JOSM using OpenWebStart in Windows, so I don’t have this JOSM.exe available. I had similar issues with UI font sizes. What helped in my case was to change the Look and Feel theme in the Display preferences:

I changed to Nimbus, and it was a complete fix of my UI scaling issues.

Do you also include bicycle:yes, as it would appear that you could also ride through those paths?

While some can be ridden through, or at least navigated through with a bike, it is very common for these accessways to have steps and bike-barriers. Through the imagery available I am not able to confidently spot such barriers and assess the accessway’s suitability for bikes, so I err on the side of caution and leave this factor outside of the scope of the process.

This detail would need to be filled out with on-the-ground surveys, or from editors with local knowledge.

Appreciate the feedback and comments, thanks.

some communities react to suburban crime by seeking legal extinguishments of these rights of way

Yes I have seen similar reactions. Here was a call to close a pedestrian accessway in Hastings (NZ) due to antisocial behaviour. And I have seen pushback against proposals for new pedestrian connections, due to concerns that they will lead to unknown elements entering the neighbourhood.

Street network has been reverted

Trial has been abandoned due to ongoing opposition/disruption https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-traffic-onehunga-low-traffic-neighbourhood-trial-cancelled/W53YBTT7WDFAP7HSDQGYH3PNQ4/

Not sure if it has been changed on the ground yet, will leave an OSM note reminding to update.

Nice post and good discussion in the comments.

I will mention that Filters in JOSM can be useful when you are focussing on a specific task, like drawing buildings. This way you will not inadvertently select/edit roads or nodes, or unintentionally join your buildings to existing features.